


How Far Does the Apple Fall?

by aspiringwriterofamazingstories



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Family, Pregnancy, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-27 04:21:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6269482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aspiringwriterofamazingstories/pseuds/aspiringwriterofamazingstories
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During his time on Earth, Loki, unexpectedly, befriended a young and beautiful human woman. Before his declaration of war on the planet, the two of them share a night of intimacy which leads to her pregnancy. After the battle in New York, she is located by S.H.I.E.L.D. After a thorough investigation, S.H.I.E.L.D. determines she is not a threat and offers to provide her a home at one of the bases where she can raise her daughter in a safe environment. For eight years, she is able to live a happy and somewhat normal life with her daughter, but when the truth begins to emerge, will her daughter begin to follow in her father's footsteps?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had written a different version of this story on Fanfiction.net a few years back, but I decided to start it again from the beginning instead of going back to it and adding chapters. I wrote that one in the third person, but for this one, I will be switching perspectives. Hopefully, this one will be better than the original.

I was eight years old when the truth began to unravel.

It had been a long day and I had just finished an exciting outing with my mother and our personal body guard and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Kevin Tanaka. It was always a big deal for me when we took trips away from the base and into the city, even if it was just for something like grocery shopping. On the day the truth began to reveal itself to me little by little, we had done all of our shopping and Kevin treated us to dinner at a little 50’s diner. I always liked Kevin, and even when I had been a small toddler, I recognized that Kevin loved my mother. I did everything a kid believed they could do to make something they really wanted happen. Prayed. Wished upon stars. I wanted Kevin to be my dad, and on that day, I watched Kevin and my mother dance to a slow be-bop song playing on the jukebox. I honestly thought my wish was starting to come true.

In a few hours, I was waking up from the backseat of the black SUV as it began to slow down. I was feeling groggy and knew my hair that my mother had curled to look pretty that day was probably a mess by now. Usually, I would be upset about that even though I’d be going to bed soon anyway, but there was something distracting me now. When I looked out the window, I saw a man a few shades darker than my mother wearing an eyepatch and a trenchcoat, and sitting next to him was a sturdy looking man with long brilliant blonde hair. He was dressed in a way that reminded me of old fairy tale picture books. He looked like a valiant hero ready to save a damsel in distress with his armor and flowing red cape. And although the dark skinned man was handsome, the blonde was, by far, the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life. I was convinced he wasn’t like any of us. He was from a far away land. A prince of his own kingdom. I was so young and naive, and even though I believed my conclusion, a small part of me believed I was just playing pretend in my mind. I didn’t realize how right I was. I turned my attention to the front two seats. Kevin in the driver seat, my mother in the passenger. I watched as my mother turned to meet my gaze. I don’t think I ever saw her eyes the way I saw them in that moment. I had never seen her so nervous or worried. I imagined that’s what I looked like when I was caught doing something wrong. Something wasn’t right about the way she looked in that moment, which only made me feel a sense of unease in the pit of my stomach. 

“Sweetie,” she said doing her best to manage a reassuring smile, but failing to make the smile reach her eyes, “Why don’t you go inside with Kevin. I have to talk to these two men.”  
“But who are they?” I asked. My suspicion that she was keeping something from me was growing.  
“They’re two old friends of Mommy’s,” she said.  
“Why can’t I talk to them?” I asked, “I want to meet them.”  
“Honey,” she said a little more firmly, “Please just go inside with Kevin.”  
“But Mom…”  
“Lacey!”  
It was then Kevin cut in. “Lacey,” he said in a soft tone, “Your mom just needs to work a few grown up things out. Maybe you can meet them another day.”  
My brow furrowed as I looked from Kevin to my mom back to Kevin again, and when I finally nodded, Kevin let out a sigh of relief before getting up from his seat and exiting the vehicle before opening my door to retrieve me. I took his hand as he helped me down and I walked alongside him to our front door. As we walked by the two men, the darker skinned man didn’t look at me, but the blonde’s eyes met with mine for a brief moment as if he couldn’t make himself look away. As if he were sneaking a peek at something he wasn’t supposed to see. He looked at me with an expression of familiarity. As if he was looking at an old friend who didn’t recognize her, and even I felt like I knew him. There was a strange jolt when we met each other’s glances. I had never met him before, but I got the feeling I was supposed to. Who were these men? Why didn’t my mother want me to meet them?

When we reached the door, Kevin unlocked it and opened it, but instead of walking in, I stopped and turned around to give the man one last glance. He didn’t look at me this time. Instead, he was focused on my mother getting out of the vehicle. She was cupping her elbows and looking down as she approached. She was walking in a way that looked the way a person walked when they were trying to push themselves through a storm. I saw her lift her head once she reached them. Her hazel eyes searching the faces of the two men in front of her. “I haven’t seen either of you in eight years,” she said, “That was the deal. Everything was to feel as normal as possible.”  
I was hoping to hear more, but Kevin gently tugged at my hand. “Come on, sweetheart,” he said, “Let’s get ready for bed.”  
I forced myself to turn away and follow him inside.

I took a quick bath, and rushed to my room leaving wet footprints on the hardwood floor behind me before peeking out the window from behind my pink curtain. My mother was still talking to the two men, looking very distressed now. She might have been crying, but I couldn’t really tell with the distance between us. I could hear murmurs between all of them, but couldn’t make out what they were saying through the window. Finally, I saw my mom shake her head and walk between the two men towards the door. They turned around to watch her leave, and when they did, I met the gaze of the blonde man once again. He had caught me spying and I quickly dropped the curtain to turn around.  
“Lacey!” Kevin called before I heard the front door click. I couldn’t tell if they were my mother’s footsteps or Kevin’s approaching my door, but got my answer when Kevin came into view from my doorway. “You know your mother has talked to you about making sure your feet are dry before you come out of the bathroom. Someone is going to slip.”  
“Sorry, Kevin,” I said.  
“Just don’t let it happen again, okay?”  
I nodded even though I knew it probably wouldn’t be the last time he got on me about my footprints. It was then my mother entered the room. Kevin turned his attention to her now. He looked at her like he was afraid she would break. Like he needed to take her into his arms before she collapsed, but my mother was looking at me. “All ready for bed, hon?” 

She was trying to keep it together, but there were slight puffy circles under her eyes, and there was a shine to them that indicated she had quickly wiped some tears away before coming to my room. As I suspected, she had been crying. I automatically hated those strange men for making my mother cry. “Are you okay?” I asked.  
“Everything is fine,” she said curling her lips, but again, the smile didn’t reach her eyes, “Let’s get you tucked in.”  
I hopped into my bed and pulled the covers up before Kevin and my mother approached. Kevin smiled his comforting and friendly smile. When Kevin smiled, I knew everything was going to be okay, so even though my mother had just got done crying, I was relaxed and felt safe once again even though there were still many questions flowing through my mind. “Goodnight, sweetie,” she said as he pulled the covers over me. She then kissed my forehead and smiled that same uneasy smile before leaving the room. Kevin remained.

“Why is Mom crying?” I asked, “Is she keeping secrets?”

He looked alarmed now. I had put him in a difficult position, but I was too naive to realize it. I watched as he considered the answer he gave me. “When you’re a grown up,” he began, “Sometimes answers aren’t so black and white, and when you have children, it gets more complicated.”  
“So, did I make something complicated?”  
He sighed and shook his head before sitting on the edge of my bed and folding his hands in his lap.  
“Your mother loves you more than anything,” he said, “and she will do anything for you. She would hold the world up as long as she knew it would ensure your safety and happiness.”  
“I know that,” I said, “but who were those two men?”  
Another sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head. “That’s for your mother to tell you,” he said, “and she will when the time is right.”  
He smiled again. “I wish I could tell you more,” he said, “but it’s not my place.”

That made my heart hurt a little bit. It could have been his place. It could have most certainly been his place if he were my father, I thought, but I kept it to myself. He gave me a small peck on the forehead and cupped my cheek. “Goodnight, sweetie,” he said softly before getting up. He gave me one last smile before flicking the switch and closing the door partially leaving a crack to allow the hallway light to peek through. I wasn’t yet over my fear of monsters or the dark. Little did I realize that would be the last normal day of my life, and my whole world was about to tumble and crash.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cheyenne and Kevin have a talk about how to best handle the situation that works in Lacey's best interests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is told through Lacey's mother's point of view.

For eight years, I was able to live a quiet and low key life with my daughter. I was able to live my dream and make a decent living selling my art and raise my daughter in the safest of environments. Life wasn’t perfect and we did have our struggles. Lacey had always been an intuitive little girl, and she knew the life we lived was not completely normal. She didn’t go to school like the kids in all of her books and the movies she watched did. Instead, she had a private tutor come visit once a week to give her lessons and assignments. And while there were other kids on the base, their parents surely had spoken to them about who her father was, and out of fear, they stayed away from her most of the time. I could tell it hurt her even though she put on a resilient and unphased face. She often told me she enjoyed painting with me more than playing with them anyway, but I know we both wished she could make friends her own age.

Overall, we were happy. We had each other and we had Kevin. I was grateful for Kevin and his kindness. He always went above and beyond what he was assigned. I would never forget the day we had first met. He wore a serious expression when walking into my house, but when I asked him to hold Lacey while I cleaned up a few things, I watched his face change instantly. I watched his furrowed eyebrows lift and the hard line of his lips curl slightly. Before that moment, I was worried Lacey would have to grow up with an intimidating bodyguard always hovering around her, but she instead grew up around a man who had come to care and love both of us. I knew this. I knew he loved me, and I knew Lacey loved him. I loved him too, but I was always hesitant to let myself be vulnerable to those feelings, until one outing where he treated us to dinner. It was such a cute place he took us. 50’s themed. Lacey could barely sit still as she ate her smothered chili fries to the upbeat music coming from the jukebox, and when a slow song came on, Kevin asked me to dance and Lacey grinned and encouraged me to take his hand. For once, I allowed myself to be vulnerable. I accepted the invitation, and before I knew it, I was resting my head against his chest, he was resting his chin on top of my head, and we were swaying gracefully as Lacey watched at a safe distance from the booth.

I had been living a dream and I should have known better. In those moments, I had convinced myself I had nothing to worry about. The things that bothered me would not make themselves known. Everything I feared was behind me.

I was forced awake the moment Kevin pulled up to our house that night. The moment I saw Nick and Thor waiting, I knew everything I had hoped for would crash and burn. I don’t know why I allowed myself to think I’d never have to worry about Loki again. I was foolish.

When I asked Lacey to go inside with Kevin, I wasn’t surprised she had questions. Lacey had never been the type of kid who just went along with what the grown ups said. She wanted answers. She didn’t want to be left in the dark when her mother was clearly upset about something. Luckily, Kevin was able to calmly convince her to do as I said and walked her past the two men and into the house. I didn’t miss the look exchanged between Thor and Lacey, though. It made me grow even more anxious. In that moment, I realized that Lacey was a part of his world. Of Loki’s world. She had never not been. This meeting was never not going to happen.

It was after Lacey had been tucked in and reassured everything was going to be okay when Kevin came out and found me sitting alone at the dining room table. My mind was racing with different scenarios and different possibilities. I had even briefly considered the possibility of running away with Lacey and hiding, but I quickly realized that would be rash, unfair to Lacey, and completely pointless. No one could hide from S.H.I.E.L.D., and running away and hiding Lacey had the potential to cause even more problems.

Kevin sat next to me and was silent. He said nothing at first, because he somehow knew I needed him near but I didn’t need him to ask me what happened. Instead, he waited to see if I was going to tell him what took place. I’m not sure how much time passed before I finally spilled what was said, but I was sure to speak softly so as not to wake Lacey.

“Loki has requested to meet Lacey…” I said looking down at my folded hands but not at Kevin as I spoke.

He was quiet a few more moments. Kevin always thought over his response before talking. It was one of the things I loved about him. He always attempted to think over what he said to avoid saying the wrong thing. “But he was captured and taken back to Asgard before he could even visit you and find out you were pregnant with Lacey,” he pointed out.  
“I’m not sure how he found out,” he said, “Thor assured me he never said anything about her in his presence.”  
I began to think of all the times I looked at Lacey and listened to her fearing how much she sometimes reminded me of him. She had his light blue eyes that looked green in some lights. She had soft curls similar to mine, but those curls were as jet black as his hair. She had his wit and charm. I was proud of her, but I feared she would be triggered by something. Anything. And she would go down a similar path as him.

As I thought, I felt Tanaka lay one of his hands on top of mine resting in front of me on the table. That is when I looked up at him and my eyes met his. There was something special about his brown eyes. The outer parts wrinkled slightly when he curled his lips in a reassuring smile and they had a way of making me feel warm inside, even when I felt like my worries would take over me completely. “We’ll figure something out,” he said, “Nick isn’t going to just have you hand her over to him. He is a criminal after all, and a prisoner of Asgard.”  
I started to feel like I might cry again. Those words should have been reassuring, but after having a talk with Nick and Thor, I knew my hands were pretty much tied. “I wish you were right,” I struggled to say as I felt the lump developing in my throat, “but Thor wasn’t just here because Loki is his brother. He was here to tell me that Asgardian law allows a man to have rights to his children regardless of if he is a criminal or not.”  
Kevin’s eyebrows lifted slightly, and I could tell he wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this. He usually knew just the right thing to say, but now he was at a loss. “I’m going to talk with Nick,” he said.  
It was a nice thought. The idea that Kevin cared so much he thought it would be a good idea to talk with him about the matter personally, but we both knew that would change nothing.  
“Unless he has the power to change a law that is probably as old as time itself,” I said as my voice began to waver, “I don’t think there is much we can do.”  
I felt my eyes began to burn, and although he had nothing to say, Kevin gave my hands a gentle squeeze.  
“Maybe this is for the best,” I said, “I’ve always been afraid Lacey would become a monster like him. Maybe this will be a good thing for her. Maybe my plan to keep him a secret would have only hurt her.”

I recalled Loki’s history being told to me shortly after I was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. I was, of course, horrified that the dark stranger I had found myself falling for was a monster, but I was also sympathetic and heartbroken for him when Thor told me how he had developed anger and hatred when the secret of his adoption was revealed to him.  
“How could I be so foolish?” I asked.  
“You’re not foolish,” Kevin said immediately, “You are an amazing mother. You are only doing what you can to protect her.”  
“But what’s the right thing to do?” I asked, “I’ve been keeping this secret from her for eight years. The only reason I think she hasn’t asked about her father is because she feels like you’re her father.”

I saw a slight spark in his eye, but it only lasted a moment. I knew how much it meant to him that I said that, but he was more focused on my concerns about the current situation. “I unfortunately can’t give you the answers,” he said, “I wish I could, but I think you’ll know what to do when the time comes. We already know Loki will most likely be able to see her. We are not sure how and when, but right now, there is no use in worrying if it will happen, because we know it will. Right now, we need to think about how we’re going to talk to Lacey about this.”  
I let out a dry humorless laugh as the tears escaped and began to roll down my cheeks. “How exactly are we going to tell her that her father hoped to conquer Earth? That he’s killed people? How exactly are we going to tell her she’s not completely human?”

Kevin gave me a warm smile before reaching over to wipe some tears away. “Baby steps,” he said gently, “We don’t have to lay this all out for her at once.”  
“So, what part should we tell her first?” I asked, “I think it all looks the same no matter what part she hears first.”  
“You tell her that when you were younger, you met someone,” he said with patience. I always admired how he could stay calm when I was at my worst. There I was blubbering about my worries, and he was calm and focused on comforting me. “You tell her that you were separated by distance, but he learned about your daughter and wants to meet her,” he continued, “Introduce him as a friend. You don’t have to tell her who he is until you get a chance to see how he treats her.”  
“And what if he tries to hurt her?”  
I couldn’t really think of any reason he would want to hurt Lacey, but the possibility was still there.  
“I won’t let him,” he said. His face went from soft to serious in a matter of seconds. “Even if I have to stand between them and risk my own life, I will not allow him to do anything to hurt Lacey.”


End file.
